Author: Harrison, G. Y.
Biography:
HARRISON, G. Y. (1805-32: ancestry.co.uk)
George Yates Harrison was born on 13 Feb. 1805 and baptised at Thirsk Independent Congregational, the son of John Harrison, a weaver, and Elizabeth Yeats (sic), who had married in 1798. Nothing is known concerning his education. Prior to the publication of his accomplished sonnets in Vectis Poetice. Descriptive Sonnets, on Isle of Wight Scenery (1827), he contributed a number of poems to the Imperial Magazine from 1824 to 1827 signing them “G. Y. H.” and “G. Y. Harrison,” from Thirsk and South London addresses. “A Tribute to the Memory of the Rev. Joseph Jefferson” (1824) connects him to the Congregational Chapel where he was baptised; “The Convict” (1825) records his witnessing an execution in South London; “On the Death of John Keats” (1826) is one of several such responses in the 1820s; another poem records the departure of his brother, Thomas, for Madras; and a couple of topographical sonnets were reprinted in Vectis Poetice (1827). It is not known why he went to the Isle of Wight. He married Mary Feast on 16 Aug. 1829 at St. John’s, Waterloo, London. When they baptised their son George Frederick on 10 Apr. 1831 at Southwark, Harrison gave his occupation as printer. He died at North Place, West Square, Southwark, and was buried at St. George the Martyr on 12 Feb. 1832. Their son died three months later and was buried on 27 May 1832. (ancestry.co.uk 9 Feb 2022; findmypast.co.uk 9 Feb. 2022; Imperial Magazine 1824-1827; James G. Miall, Congregationalism in Yorkshire [1868], 370-1) AA